Richard Crisp

Richard Crisp is Professor of Social Psychology at Durham University. He was the 2012 winner of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, 2013 winner of the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section Mid-Career Prize (for outstanding research in social psychology), and 2014 winner of the British Psychological Society Presidents’ Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge.

He is also a past winner of the British Psychological Society Spearman Medal and has been recognised with election to Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.

Books

The Social Brain

Richard Crisp

Is conflict caused by an inherently hostile human nature? Are efforts to promote peaceful co-existence fated to fail? Is the story of human history destined to play out as a clash of civilizations?

These are the questions framing contemporary debate over diversity, immigration and multiculturalism. The Social Brain provides an entirely new psychological perspective on this debate. It argues that diversity is critical to our very survival as a species, that contact with different cultures was, and is, the essential element that fuels our creativity, innovation and growth. It asserts that diversity was the key to our intellectual evolution and will be integral to helping us tackle the most pressing social, political and economic concerns of our time.

The Social Brain ties the origins of the modern mind to the evolution of human society, and provides an entirely new insight into how we can harness the ingenuity and invention that reside within us all.

With a prolific academic record and the discipline’s highest accolades and awards, Richard Crisp is established as one of the UK’s most dynamic, distinctive, and distinguished behavioural scientists. His scientific contributions have provided new insights into how society shapes our behaviour, beliefs, attitudes, and values. He is the author of several books, including the introductory textbook Essential Social Psychology, and is Chief Editor of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.